Dark Storm
by Shock And Drop
Summary: When Ratchet gets infected with Dark Energon, his world seems to fall apart around him. Can Team Prime find a cure for their medic before he ends up hurting someone... Or himself?
1. Scarred

_"Unknown Energon detected in systems."_

 _"Backup Energon has gone offline."_

 _"Permission to shut down?"_

Ratchet denied, rolling his optics. He had been receiving the same warnings over and over again all morning, but when he had scanned himself, nothing came up. His vitals were completely normal. He had felt dizzy earlier, but he mentally waved it off. It could be nothing, and he wasn't about to waste his time dealing with a false virus. But they came up every five nanoklicks, irritating the busy medic. Finally, he sat down his screwdriver and scanned himself again. This time, he noticed that his strength ranking had gone up.

 _Could be Synthetic Energon? I_ have _been working on it lately. Perhaps it's a side effect of the unfinished formula,_ he thought with a sigh. No way had any Energon he had drank earlier had gone bad. The Energon they had was only a week old. And why would it say it was unknown? It would have told him that it was poisoned.  
There was a knock on his door. "Go away. I'm busy."

"Ratchet, it's me."

The medic sighed. "Come in."

Ratchet didn't bother turning around as a certain Prime entered the medbay. "What do you want?" he growled. "Your assistance. My spark has been aching."  
"Your spark? What the frag did you do to it?"

It took Optimus a few nanoklicks to answer. "Nothing." Ratchet folded his arms, smirking. "Oh, really? And just when did this so-called aching begin?" he asked. No answer. "Orion. When did the aching start?"

Optimus kept his helm bowed, his digits playing with each other. "I can't help you if you won't tell me." The Prime let out a surrendered sigh. "Last night."

"Last night? Okay. Then why were you so stubborn to tell me that?"

"Because it was last night had I received an oil drain for yourself."

Oh.

Ratchet nodded slowly, trying to think up an explanation. Oil drains were known to cause nauseousness and tire, but never had they had a side effect as spark-clogging. "Optimus, I'm going to have to ask you to lie down." Optimus looked taken aback, but obeyed, sitting down on the medical berth, and pulling himself up. Ratchet grabbed a box and slid it beside the end of it where the Prime's pedes stuck out.

Fragging height.

Ratchet retracted the panel covering his scanner and swept his new patent, the green light shining through the whole body. "What? Is there something wrong with this thing?" he thought aloud, tapping the screen. Obviously, there was something wrong with Optimus' spark. "Is there a problem, old friend?"  
"No. Well... Yes. Optimus, I need you to open your spark chamber."

The Prime blinked, his windshields sliding aside, blue light reflecting off the walls. Ratchet bent over and peeked in, only to find that his spark was healthy. "This isn't funny," he growled. "What?"

"You pranked me!"

"I did no such thing. My spark _is_ aching."

"There's nothing there."

"Check again."

"But there's nothing there!" Ratchet repeated, sneering. "I have better things to do then deal with jokes and false problems! Get out of this medbay!"

"But-"

"NOW!"

Optimus Prime gaped at his angered medic, completely confused. "Ratchet... Is there a problem?" Ratchet was trembling, his servos shaking, and his optics were dimmed.

"No! Just... Just get out!"

"Your systems are over-heating, old friend. You need help." Optimus closed his spark chamber; the pain had ebbed away. He sat up and reached for the CMO's servo, only for it to tug away. "Don't-don't touch me!" Ratchet was gaping, as if like a human, struggling to breathe. He covered his face, shaking his helm over and over again.  
"Ratchet, what is wrong? You do not look well."

"Because I'm more then well."

Optimus flinched. He had not expected those words hissing at him. The medic removed his servos from his face, a soft violet glow illuminating from his optics.  
 _Dark Energon?_ Optimus thought in shock.

 _How is that possible?_


	2. Confusion

_What's wrong with me?_

Ratchet panted, his vision beginning to fade. Optimus Prime was in front of him, calling to him, but the medic didn't answer. He _couldn't_ answer, he realized. His limbs and gears were locked, automatic firewalls slowly forming.

 _What's happening?_

The red and white mech was beginning to panic. He felt his mouth move, speaking _by itself_. There was a sudden surge in his spark, and almost as soon as his friend touched him, his weapons system onlined. He saw the Prime jump back as Ratchet's body swung at him, surgical blades slicing a bit of his paint. "Ratchet! What are you _doing?"_

"I-I don't know!" Ratchet tried to call, but his jaw locked before he could speak. He watched as Optimus ran out of the room, door slamming shut behind him, a small click echoing across the medbay office.

He had just locked Ratchet inside.

Jack jumped, a crash sounding across the base. "What the Hell was that?!" Miko yelled, setting down her colored pencils. "I don't know," Jack responded, standing up from the couch. "But it can't be good."

"Then let's go check it out!"

"Miko! Wait up!" The Japanese girl was already racing down the stairs. Sighing, Jack took Raf's hand and ran after her.

"LET ME OUT! I'LL KILL YOU, PRIME!"

Optimus Prime stood outside the medbay door, staring wide-eyed as his friend pounded on the door, unsure what to do. With Ratchet continuously banging on them, the walls won't hold up for long. "Ratchet! You must calm down! Dark Energon has poisoned your systems."

"I can't-!" a voice on the other side of the door gasped. "Optimus, I can't control it-!"

A thought hit him. Earlier, Optimus' spark gave an uncontrolled ache, and seemingly disappeared. Perhaps becoming close in combat with Megatron had caught onto his spark, and then onto Ratchet's...? No. How would that even be possible. Maybe Ratchet was experimenting with it, and somehow got extremely infected. Or-

"HEY! What's going on over here!?"

Optimus looked down to see amber staring up at him. "Miko, what are you doing here?" he demanded. "I came to see what the problem was. We heard crashing," the little girl explained, waving her hands in a dramatic way. "What's wrong with Doc?"

"YOU SLAGGERS! LET ME THE _FUCK_ OUT!"

Optimus blinked in surprise at the medic's words, glancing a look at Miko. She whistled. "Where did he learn _that?"_

To be continued...


End file.
